BLACK CAT: RAGNAROK
by Yuhiri
Summary: It has been a year since the Eden Project was brought down and Train Heartnet remains as a lone cat on the streets. An organization called Asgard has risen, seeking to capture wanted criminals to make them 'sacrifices' as they push for Ragnarok. Train meets a woman named Loki who works for Asgard. Is she on the side of good or evil? Will he be able to stop the end of the world?
1. CHAPTER I: RISE OF THE FULL MOON

**Chapter I: The Rise of the Full Moon**

Here comes the moon.

It now rises at its highest peak on a cloudless sky.

Two men are running aimlessly in the streets... for their lives.

The pursuit was running for hours now, until now.

"I think we finally lost Loki," said the exhausted man. He was wearing dirty red coat and tie. He could have looked like someone respectable; however, he was in shambles after the long chase.

"You said it. Imagine that. We escaped from Loki, alive!" said another man with a proud grin on his face. He was wearing formal blue sleeves. "He'll Loki's not as terrifying as the reputation popularly says!"

And they roar in laughter mixed with laughter of relief, while leaning on an alley wall.

In the middle of their laughter, a figure with deep, purple eyes jumped on top of the wall. They were dark eyes gleaming in the moonlight which were so familiar to the two men that it shook them with fear.

"You are…"

"…Loki?!"

A soft, zephyr blew and wafted the long, cobalt hair of the figure.

Still fumbled, the man in the coat gasped. "…is a woman?!"

She with deep, purple eyes and wafting deep blue hair spoke "I now bring you to justice!"

From her back, she pulls out her weapon that terrifies the two men all the more. It was a flute.

"What? Just a flute?" quipped the man in blue.

"Oh no!" exclaimed the other. "Quick! Let's get out of here!" he said and grabbed his partners arm in an attempt to escape. The partner was puzzled of why one would run from a flute.

Loki gently put the mouthpiece of the flute on her lips, and played a dark yet gentle tune:

The seemingly sweet yet lonely melody drifted through the cold midnight in the City of Ludwig, a place embellished mostly with brick and buses.

The two men started running from the woman they called Loki. The other one was clueless to why they should continue running.

"Hey men, why be afraid of a girl with a flute," said the man in blue, his arm tugged by his partner who was looking pale from fear.

Later, he started coughing and covered his mouth with his free hand. It must be from the coldness of the night, he thought. But when he looked at his hand, it had quite an amount of blood in it.

He was stunned. "Wha— What is this?!" he said with his voice quivering.

His partner suddenly seized from running. He turned to his partner only to see that he was also bleeding through his eyes.

The notes from her flute started rising—so did the two men's shrieks that were swallowed by the oblivion of the midnight.

In a not-so-far-away alley of Ludwig City, their sat the Cat.

As usual, after every all in a day's sweep, he lied there on a roof, gazing at the full moon with a milk bottle on his hand. His companion: an alley cat who was helping itself with a pan of milk courtesy of Train Heartnet.

It has been almost a year since the Eden Project collapsed. He is still nomadic, like a free stray cat.

In the middle of his midnight rendezvous with the alley cat, the melody of the flute reached his ears. The cat starts purring. He then sank all the more to the loneliness of the night.

As he stared onto the full moon, a vision of a little girl suddenly brushed in his mind—a smile so alive and innocent.

The memory made him gasp for some air and grab his head.

He thought hard. Then, he decided to stop.

The tune later on cradled him to sleep.

Train Heartnet still remained a lone cat on the streets. Today, he's on his way for another catch today as a sweeper. But before anything else, a bottle of milk from a nearby store, first.

The café window showed a fuzzy reflection of a young man in his 20s with brown, untidy hair hair, yellow-cat-like eyes. He was wearing a leather jacket which has its hems length only to his ribs. His jacket used to be blue with its sleeves folded to his elbows. He was also wearing a white shirt under. He matched it with tight black pants with a gun holster on his right leg. It held quite a big revolver: Hades. It had two red tassels dangling need the magazine holder.

He can be pretty eye catching: He wore a bell on his neck hoisted by a red ribbon. It looked like a cat's flee collar. Most of all, there is the infamous Roman numeral tattoo below his right collar bone: XIII. His tattoo would tell people who he was: The Black Cat: Bringer of bad luck.

Formerly the top assassin of _Chronos,_ a vigilante group with worldwide support, Train left the organization to live a free life of a sweeper. Now, he is officially an alley cat.

He sat by the counter and waved at the waitress. "Yo, waitress! The usual here please!"

"Just a second!" the mid-aged waitress shouted back at him while serving a couple of customers seated on another table.

Train let out a big yawn. He scratched his sleepy eyes and sprawled all over the counter.

Just then, the café door's bell rang. A customer came in and sat also near the counter near, but not beside Train.

It was a woman who in the café.

She was wearing a light blue long-sleeves with four large button placed in a modern design. She had a blown turtle neck below it. She was wearing loose, grey pants as well. She also had a holster around her waist that carried something long and sleek.

Probably no one important.

Train remained face down on the café, but on the side on his vision, he looked at her. She just sat there in the café with a faint smile on her face, but her purple eyes seem a bit empty. Some of her long, cobalt hair was covering her eyes too.

"Ms. Bella, the usual here please!" the woman told the waitress in the kindest way.

"Oh, good morning, Rion! Haven't seen you around in a while dear," replied the waitress, still serving in the far off table. "I'll be there in just a minute, Hon."

Train continued to watch the woman from the corner of his eye.

She just sat there.

There was silence.

Until "Can I help you… Black Cat?" she said without even a glance.

Train continued his sleepy façade but still answered. "I see you observe better than I thought you would."

And then he sat up, his hands raised behind his head in an attempt to recline. "And I see someone still remembers my reputation," he continued.

She let out another faint smile, more like a smirk. "The tattoo is actually a dead giveaway."

"Well, that isn't really that hard to guess." He said.

"And the bulky gun," she continued.

"Well, I'm not the only one who has one," Train answered. "Most of us sweepers carry one."

"You're a… sweeper?" she said, finally turning onto him, startled.

"Yeah, contrary to what you know about Black Cat, I'm done with Chronos," he said.

She finally got a good look at him: a young, energetic man with nothing but a goofy grin with him, contrary to how the infamous Number XIII A.K.A Black Cat was known.

For a second there, she was awestruck by the sight of the young man, his wide beam almost welcoming her.

A tray suddenly landed between the two of them.

"Rion, do the two of you know each other?" asked Bella, the waitress.

The woman made a faint smile. "Probably. But this may actually be the first time we met, Ms. Bella," said the woman.

Bella was a bit unconvinced, but she let go of it anyway.

"Anyway," continued Bella, while handing down the orders. "A bottle of milk for Train and a cold glass of milk for Rion."

Rion and Train were surprised about each other's orders.

"Well, I guess the two of you have some sort of things in common, don't you?" said Bella. "Well, I'll just be here if you need anything," and then left to the kitchen.

The two started drinking their individual orders.

"Well, I don't think lukewarm milk isn't much tasty," Rion remarked.

"Oh yeah? Well I think I'd get a stomach ache drinking cold milk!" said Train, obviously pissed.

The two of them just scoffed at each other, still continuing to sip some milk.

At the middle of the snubbing, Rion injected: "Why leave to be a sweeper, Black Cat?"

Train was astonished with the question.

"I mean, isn't it good to keep the bad guys at bay?" said Rion.

"You're name's Rion, right?" asked Train.

Rion paused for a while, looking unsure of what to answer.

"…Well, that's what they call me here," she replied.

Train was a bit puzzled with the answer. But, he continued. "Well, Rion. Chronos' former functions are already over."

Over? Rion told herself.

"Chronos' way is not the only way to keep bad guys at bay. I can do it just as good as how a sweeper does it," Train continued.

He then gave out a grin to Rion. Rion paused. Later, she looked at him, astounded.

She then suddenly drank down the last of her cold milk and slammed the glass and some change in the counter.

"I'm not so sure about that, Black Cat," she answered with a beam.

She stood up and readied to the door. "There are just some things we cannot keep behind bars forever. Sometimes, there are just some that we have to take care of ourselves."

Train just looked at Rion from the corner of his eye.

She continued to head to the door, just raising her hand at him to say goodbye. Train can only see Rion's back and the sleek and long thing she holstered in her waist.

"Be careful with the crocodiles," were Rion's last words before the café's door bell rang again, signalling that a customer just left.

Train was stammered at Rion's last words. His eyes widened. They were familiar words to him.

Rion got out of the café.

Outside, there was a young man waiting by a shed just in front of the café.

"That was rather quick, Rion," said the man who came out from the shade. His orange hair glimmered in the soft, morning sunlight. He stretched his hand to hand over a sealed envelope to Rion, revealing the long but loose sleeves of his white top. He was smiling at Rion brightly.

"Yeah. I just came in for a short snack," Rion answered while taking the letter from the guy.

Back in the café, Bella just got out of the kitchen to hand Train his rice omelette.

"It's about time for my breakfast!" Train complained.

"Oh shut up, Train, it's been just five minutes," said Bella, sliding over the plate with a tall mountain of rice omelette to Train. He immediately started gobbling up the food.

"Oh, Rion's gone?" asked Bella.

"Yeah. Good thing she left 'cause I'm not sharing any of these with her," said Train with his mouth still full.

Bella immediately whacked Train's head with a ladle. He yelped for a while but still continued eating.

"Rion just got her a few months ago. She immediately became one of my regulars, though she doesn't really order much except for some cold milk," Bella told Train, regardless of his busyness to eat. "She's such a sweet heart. Sometimes, she'd play her flute here to lure more customers. She's pretty good too."

"So that's what's holstered in her waist," Train said, finally finishing off the meal.

"Wow, you're much faster in finishing your food today, Train. That's a new record," Bella said, amazed at how Train licked clean that much food in such a short time.

"So, you got any new job for me, Bella?" Train said.

"Barely any, Train," said Bella. "The big and bad news is, the wanted criminals have been disappearing in this city one by one. It's been happening for about a month now. They're not in the slammers either."

Bella continued. "Maybe it's good for the people, how the city became safer from the criminals. It's Bad news for sweepers like you, Train."

"I see," said Train.

"But I saved this last target just for you," said Bella, handing a wanted poster to Train.

An old, bearded man with a brusque stature was in the poster. Printed on it was the name Arez Baltimore with a bounty of $500,000.

"I'm sorry I couldn't find a larger fish for you, dear. Well, actually, this is the only fish this week," said Bella. "You be a good boy and try to fish this one out."

Later that night, Train set off to an abandoned alley in town. He just loaded his revolver, Hades. He now started walking in the dark, unlit alley. There was no light except the moon, which was still full and round tonight. It was dark, but the messy alley with makeshift shelters can be seen.

Everything seemed quiet and peaceful.

Suddenly, Train stopped walking.

"Come on out, Arez Baltimore."

A figure then came out from a manhole. It was a shabby man with a beard and a brusque stature.

"Are you also going to take me away, sweeper?" he told Train.

Train pointed his gun at him with only one hand. "Arez Baltimore, you're under arrest."

"I did what I had to do when I killed all those people, sweeper. And now, you're going to take me away too?" said Baltimore.

"You had no right to take away anyone's lives, Baltimore," answered Train. "Now, don't make it hard for yourself and surrender."

"I don't think so, sweeper. You see, you're not the first sweeper who fell to my clutches!"

Baltimore attacked, raising a fist in the air. His fist landed on where Train stood before he jumped to evade it. The bricks where he stood turned immediately into dust.

Crumbles turned to dust? This must be super human strength, Train told himself.

Baltimore charged at Train again. Train tried to negate the attack by using his Hades as a block. However, because of the impact, Train was still tossed where he flipped back and landed restlessly on the brick ground.

Train bounced back and, this time, was the one who charged at Baltimore and ricochet the body of his gun at the criminal's back, making Baltimore lean on the ground.

Train then pointed his gun at him again while he lied down, still using only one hand.

"Now do you surrender?" Train said with a wide grin and a sneer.

Baltimore started making tremors. "No one.. shall.. take me… ALIVE!" and hitting Train again, now with his arm. Train was able to immediately block the blow with his Hades and just caused him to get tossed away again. A cloud of dust rose up.

Suddenly, a flute started to play, in the tone of Silent Night. Both Train and Baltimore were startled.

"That sound! It's that witch again!" shouted Baltimore in rage as he charged to the direction of the sound of the flute which was from the haze. He threw a punch which was blocked by something.

When the smoke settled down, Train saw that Baltimore's punch was blocked by a crystal flute held by a woman.

He cobalt hair was lightly blown by the impact of Baltimore's punch.

She tried to whip out the punch and leaped back to avoid any possible fatality.

Train and Rion saw each other at that abandoned alley that night.

#


	2. CHAPTER II: FACING THE MUSIC

**CHAPTER II: Facing the Music**

"Rion?!"

"Train?!"

"What are you doing here?" Rion said, her voice agitated."

"I'm a sweeper, it's all in a day's work for me to be here. I should be asking you instead!" his voice restless as well.

Rion didn't answer. "Get away from here Train."

Rion charged at Baltimore by jumping to the air to his direction. She used her crystal flute as a melee weapon, striking him in the nape and then at the back.

The blows weakened Baltimore but still failed to permanently put him in the ground.

"Cover your ears, Train," Rion shouted at Train.

"What are you doing here? Answer me, Rion!" Train demanded while the combat was still going on.

A voice called out from afar. "Loki!"

Rion looked at the direction of the voice. The guys with orange hair from earlier and a teenage girl came.

"The perimeters have been sealed, Loki," the young girl told Rion.

"Loki?!" Train was confounded by what the girl called Rion.

"Cover your ears, Train," demanded Rion.

"No! Not until you answer me!" Train talked back.

"COVER YOUR EARS!" Rion was obviously furious now.

"Loki, we don't have much time," demanded the young man with the orange hair.

With hesitation, Rion started playing her flute. The piece was Lost Souls.

"YOU'LL NEVER TAKE ME ALIVE!" roared Baltimore as he was preparing his fist.

Just as Baltimore was about to charge at Rion, the tune started agonizing him. Train was not an exemption.

Rion was reaching the chorus of the piece she was playing. Train was also reaching the limit of his consciousness.

In the middle of Train's anguish, a young girl, about an age of a child, walked in front of him, and covered his ears for him, until he lost consciousness.

Somewhere, in a secret sanctuary, Rion and her comrades gathered to meet. They were seated in chairs that seem old but had a touch of royalty on each of them. Rion kept looking down on her flute as the meeting was going on.

Odin, their head, a mid-aged woman was seated on the highest seat. She had crimson red hair and eyes so sharp yet so beautiful. She was wearing a crimson suit paired with a long skirt and two swords hoisted on both sides of her hips.

"Well done, all. We have captured yet another soul we would need for the great Cause," Odin said in the group.

In the circle, there seated Thor, the man with the orange hair and long, loose sleeves. There were, also Freya, the spunky teenage girl who had short, blonde hair and was wearing a high school uniform; and Eir, the 10-year-old girl, hair of gold loosely tied to her back with some of it dangling on the side of her hair; she is wearing a simple shirt with a pink vest and a pencil cut skirt, eyes dull and cold.

"Just another day's work for us, isn't that right Loki?" Thor said in a cheerful way in attempt to get Loki's attention.

"Uhh.. Yeah." Loki answered in a sheepish way. She tried to answer even though she felt down.

"Though I must say, we set up the barrier as quickly as we could Loki. What's with the lag a while ago?" said Freya sounding finicky.

"If you've forgotten Freya, Loki and us had to double the caution a while ago to minimize possible collateral damages" Eir said in a stern but arid way.

"No matter. Whatever it takes, as long as we are all leaning forward to the cause," Odin remarked. She raised her hand and on their midst, a plant came into view. Right there and then, the plant grew and became as tall as a young bush.

"We have to find other seeds in another place very soon," Odin said.

Loki's eyes widened.

"It's about time," Thor said. "He need to act fast if we need the 'elimination' to go up and about more quickly."

"This is all for Yggdrasil. Fight for Valhala!" Odin motioned.

Thor, Freya, and Eir followed. "For Valhala!"

Rion, in a weak and late manner, followed along as well. "For Valhala…"

There was it again, the vision of a girl trying to reach out for his hand.

"Come'on Train! Let's go after the crocodiles!" the small girl coaxed while wearing a bright and innocent smile. He couldn't see her face.

Then, Train slowly woke up.

The sun was already up and that was what woke him up. The sunrays hurt his eyes a little. Horses and working men and women were already up and about.

As he slowly opened his eyes and ha saw a blurred face.

He closed them again and opened, then rubbed it a bit to see a better picture. His vision was now clear. They were purple eyes closely staring at him with worry on it.

"You ok now, Train?" said the girl with purple eyes.

Train jumped up from surprise.

"Gyah! What are you doing here?!" Train exclaimed.

He then looked around where he was. He was in an alley. In the far off corner were horses and people walking about. The sun was not up too high yet. It was still early morning. On his left was a girl who was sitting with her knees folded to the ground and staring at him, now, curiously.

"Relax Train, it's just me," said the girl.

Train was still a bit distrustful. And then he calmed down a bit only to look at her sternly. "Rion, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it's me. Rion," she replied awkwardly.

Then, everything that happened last night came back to him. Train was filled with uneasiness.

"What did you do to that man?!" Train intensely asked Rion. "Arez Baltimore, where is he?"

"Calm down Trai—"

"And who were those people with you?! Who are you working for?!"

"TRAIN!"

Train was stunned.

"I said calm down…" Rion said in a low, sad voice.

Train paused for a while. "Ok."

"He's fine. He's in our custody," Rion said. She then stood up. "You've been sleeping here the whole night and my thighs were worn-out being your pillow for hours."

Train's daze was halted when he learned about it, and then blushed a little bit. "Well, I didn't ask you to become one!"

She dusted off her pants from any dirt she might have gotten from sitting on the brick street the whole night. "That's what I get after what I did? I had to watch over you the whole night just to make sure dogs or rats won't come after you."

Train just scoffed.

"My flat is just nearby. Come over to freshen up or for some breakfast, Back Cat," Rion said as she started walking. "Or if you want to learn more…"

"Train immediately looked at her direction.

Rion's apartment was small, but it looked lively, having peach-colored wallpaper. There were small figurines in the corners.

In the dining room, Train gobbled breakfast and has already stacked several plates aside. Yet he looked like he has not eaten for weeks. Rion was hard at work on coping with Train's monstrous appetite.

"Eh, the food tastes average," Train remarked as he devours another plate full of food and shoves down a stack of toast down his throat. "Can I get some more milk?"

"Try snacking on one of these?!" Rion said furiously as she raised one of her long kitchen knives. "I haven't made anything for myself yet, yet the supplies I just used up cost me my whole food budget for a month," she continued as she was slicing some ingredients.

After arriving with the last tray of food, Rion finally started eating. But before she could put her first spoon on her mouth, she quietly stared at Train first as he was pigging out on his food. Her stares had a faint amazement and hint of happiness on them.

"What are you staring at, woman?" Train said cruelly while munching.

Rion immediately looked away, slightly blushing. "N-nothing. I... I j-just looked at how much more of a… a pig you are rather than a human." She then finally started eating.

"Well, who invited who in the first place?" Train cut in while still chomping. "And by the way, lady, I'm a Cat, not a pig!"

Rion just scoffed and obviously irritated. She sipped some milk, but was still secretly staring at him.

"You obviously don't remember…" she said in a very weak voice.

Train paused for a while, "Come again?"

"Nothing!" she just blurted. She then stood up and then walked away. "You smell terrible. Go get a shower. Just turn to the left. There's also a washing machine there. I've readied your spare clothes too."

She walked to her room but did not close the door. Train just stared and wondered, while eating.

After eating, Train did shower and used the washer which dried his clothes immediately after spinning them. Yet, he still wore the clothes Rion spared for him: a plain white shirt and a pair of jogging pants. He took off the bell on his neck. His XIII tattoo could still be seen in the collar of his shirt.

When he checked on the living room, Rion still wasn't there.

Then, Train suddenly sensed something in Rion's room. He immediately dashed to her room: Rion was about to collapse to the floor. Just before she fell, he was able to catch her.

When Rion woke up, she was already lying on her soft, fluffy bed. Her room had flower wallpapers in its ceiling.

"You awake now, Rion?" Train's voice said.

When Rion turned to her right, there was Train sitting on a chair near her bed.

"Train? You're still here?" She said, wondering.

She looked at the wall clock on her room. It's already afternoon.

"Oh my! What happened?!" said Rion, still surprised.

"You almost kissed the floor. Good thing I just came in in the nick of time," Train answered.

"Oh? Well, I guess I'll forgive your intrusion of a girl's room for now."

Train was annoyed. "Not even a bit of gratefulness there for saving your head –?"

"Thanks, Train…" said Rion with a bright, innocent smile. Even her eyes were smiling. The afternoon sunrays were shining on her purple eyes, making its color a bit crimson.

Train's eyes widened. A vivid memory is starting to come back to him. Yet, he is filled with uncertainty.

Rion sat up from her bed. Then, she started fumbling for something from her waist and then under her pillows.

"…Was it really you?" Train said, now in a low, serious voice.

Rion paused and wondered what he was talking about.

Train took out the holster formerly tied around Rion's waist. He opened the long, sleek pouch, took out the crystal flute inside it and started inspecting it.

"The other two people with you that night called you 'Loki'. What was that all about? And were you behind the missing criminals recently?—"

"Please give _Fenrir_ back to me, Train," Rion exclaimed.

Train was stunned.

" _Fenrir,_ my flute. Please give it back."

So Train handed her the flute.

Out from the flute, Rion turned it into a make-shift dagger, a crystal one. But just held it in her hands. "I'm surprised that you still came with me here, even though you saw what I did—and what I can do."

Train just sat still, unmoved, but neither frightened.

"You know, now that you know about Asgard and who I really am, you deserve to be eliminated so we can keep out existence a secret," Rion said, still staring at the crystal dagger.

"Of course," answered Train. "But I know you wouldn't do that."

"How do you know that? You just met me yesterday."

"Yeah. But you could've killed me last night already if you feel like doing so."

Rion looked at Train, her purple eyes full of astonishment.

"Besides, I don't have any proof, but I feel that you're not that type of person," Train continued. "It's natural among people to be good. It's just that someone pushed them to the brink."

Rion just let out a sign and a faint grin. She transformed _Fenrir_ back to being a flute. "I guess you really don't remember, Train."

"Remember what?" Train said in a happy note.

"Nothing," she replied with a chuckle.

"Spit it out!" he insisted like a kid.

"I said nothing!" Rion teased. She giggled softly.

"But I do remember clearly what happened last night." Train's voice became low and dark.

Rion's cheer suddenly shifted to that of uneasiness.

"Rion, I saw you take down Baltimore with your flute and working with two or three others," continued Train. "Tell me, is this the Asgard you're talking about? What is this Asgard you just told me? And why are they calling you Loki?"

Rion just smiled sadly. There was a lot of hesitation to answer.

"That's because…" said Rion as she suddenly grabbed and crumpled Train's borrowed white shirt softly. "I had to do it… for someone…"

Train suddenly faced the door. Seconds later, the doorbell buzzed.

A man's voice spoke from the front "Hey Rion! Anybody home?"

Rion gasped. "It's Thorr!"

"Who is this Thorr, Rion? Is he dangerous?" Train said, looking concerned.

Rion stood up from her bed, a bit panicking. "Quick Train, you gotta leave here, now!"

"He cannot see you! Ever!"

She started pushing him to the back door near the bathroom. The man from the front door continued calling for her. She just shouted back: "Coming!"

Train was a bit annoyed at the seemingly child's play Rion is trying to pull out. But when she looked at Rion's face, it was dead serious: full of sincere worry. So he just did what she wanted him to do.

At the door of the emergency exit, she gave him instructions on how to leave their area without being caught.

Train would have wanted to pull out an answer from Rion about what happened last night and the man in the front door. As he was about to speak, he was stunned at how Rion looked at him as he was about to leave: Her eyes had sorrow on them. And were those tears glimmering on her eyes?

The man from the door rang the bell again. That signalled Train to completely leave already.

"Go now, Train…"

Rion was still a bit stunned at his leaving. She patted her face and headed now to the front door to answer the door.

When she opened the door, a guy with bright, orange hair was waiting outside the door.

"Oh, hi Thorr… W-what's up?" said Rion.

"Come'on Rion. We're not with the Organization right now. I told you to just call me Rexa on our free time, remember?" the man said in a cheery voice.

Rion tried so hard to smile at him. Yet, Rexa noticed that she was just trying to do so.

"It's already afternoon and you looked like you just got out of bed. What's up, Rion?" he asked while walking to go inside the flat room.

"Oh nothing. I just… overslept a bit…" she answered as she closed the front door.

Before she completely did so, she stole a glance at the big hallway windows first to look at the streets, hoping that the Cat was able to run away safely.

Train's leather jacket, white shirt, and cat collar were all sitting there on top of her dryer.

The next day, Train made his way to the same café, as he always did every morning since he stayed at Ludwig City. He was hungry, as he always were every morning. This morning, he walked outside of his room without his cat collar nor jacket on.

While walking, he thought about Rion and what happened the other night. More especially, what happened in her house.

On his way, he suddenly decided to turn right to go to Rion's apartment.

There, he tried to remember correctly which door they entered yesterday, and finally found it, only to find that the doorbell was detached and outside, a post saying "VACANT" was plastered.

What is this? He just said to himself. He definitely sensed something fishy.

The café door bell chimed as Train came in. He immediately headed to the counter.

"Oh hey, Train. I've been waiting for you," said Bella as she was polishing some glasses behind the counter.

"You were?" he said inquisitively and walked closer to the counter.

From behind the counter, Bella pulled out a white paper bag and presented it to Train.

"Rion came in here today at dawn to give this to me," Bella said as she was handing the paper bag to Train. Inside the bag was his leather jacket, white shirt, and cat collar, its bell clean and shiny.

"Rion told me to give this to you. She said she couldn't give it to you personally 'because she had to go far away," Bella told Train.

"When did she say she'll be coming back?"

"She told me she plans to move to another city—permanently."

Train's eyes widened from the news.

"Well, Rion did say she'll try to visit me and send me letters. It's a pity that I had another great customer leave," Bella continued.

Where could she be? And how could she leave without telling me anything yet? Train told himself, his face winced.

Far away, Rion was travelling with a girl in a bus. The child was 10-year-old with hair of gold loosely tied to her back with some of it dangling on the side of her hair; she is wearing a simple shirt with a pink vest and a pencil cut skirt, eyes dull and cold.

"Are you ok, Rion?" the young girl asked.

"Yes Eir. I… I am…" answered Rion while staring at the view from the bus window.

"Please Rion, call me Rie," the girl said, still in a cold tone.

"Right.. Sorry, Rie…"

"Rion…"

Rion finally looked at her. Rie also came closer to her.

"Rion, if anything bothers you, please tell me. I'll be here to listen to you."

Rion was surprised at Rie's words. She smiled. "Thanks, Rie."

Back at the café, Train thought hard at where Rion would be. Until finally, a eureka moment occurred to him that made him slam on the café counter. From the shock, Bella almost had a glass slip from her hand.

"Quick Bella! Give me the cities where there are most high-profile wanted criminals!" Train demanded.

"O-ok Train," as she pulled out a laptop from behind the counter. She wore her eyeglasses as she typed something.

I'm sure Rion and her group is after thugs like Baltimore. I have to find her. And I have to stop her.

In a short while, Bella's laptop made a beep sound.

"Here it is Train," Bella said as she turned the laptop to face Train. "Muninn City."

"Muninn City, huh?"

"It's quite far from here Train, are you sure you're coming there just to hunt for bad guys?"

"I'm hunting more than just a bad guys now, Bel. I'm heading there as soon as possible."

Bella was astonished. "That's the spirit, Train!" 

"But before anything, breakfast!"

Rion's bus was just entering city premises already. There were already some houses and buildings in sight. A sign that says "Muninn City, 10 miles ahead" has just passed them.

#


End file.
